“A derby is never pretty, but a derby is won! Pierre-Henry Broncan, CO coach, was obviously all smiles after the success (19-13) of Castres against a Toulouse stadium yet came as a neighbor with Antoine Dupont and his internationals, Saturday at the Pierre-Fabre stadium, for the account of the 22nd day of the Top 14. A 19th consecutive match without defeat at home which allows CO, now third, to overtake the defending champion in the standings and achieve a very good operation in the race for the final stages.
And if the Castres had posted the score of the first leg in the locker room before the meeting (41-0, editor’s note), the motivation was obvious in this old-fashioned derby, played in difficult weather conditions, with fervor, commitment, suspense , tension and a big sporting challenge. A harshness until the last moments for Toulouse deprived of the defensive bonus point, which is not negligible in a very tight final sprint, with the first two places which move away visibly.
The bad winter series of six consecutive defeats had mainly been attributed to doubles, but this derby showed that even with his Blues, like a Romain Ntamack overall inside, the champion of France was not invincible. With an icy wind blowing behind the Toulouse team in the first period, the latter, deprived at the last minute of their hooker and captain Julien Marchand, replaced in the starting XV by his international friend Peato Mauvaka, did not know benefit.
Antoine Dupont can only see the damage
Revanchists after their 41-0 defeat in the first leg, the Castres, deprived of their opener and scorer Benjamin Urdapilleta, hit with one hand, were able to turn their backs. Even when, upon returning from the locker room, Toulouse scored the first try of the match by Richie Arnold, back from injury, after a good job by Flament, very active. This test paradoxically had the merit of waking up Castres and its public, with first a drop from Julien Dumora, then a test from international hooker Gaëtan Barlot.
Already author of a double in the first leg against the Tarnais, the Argentinian winger Juan Cruz Mallia gave hope to the Red and Blacks, who however did not manage to completely reverse the score and will be able to regret the seven points left at the foot by Thomas Ramos (1 of 4). “We are not at the maximum of what we are capable of doing. On the consistency, in the involvement, the offensive dimension… I think we can do much better. We didn’t show our best side today, even though we were there with intensity, commitment and spirit. But that’s not enough. Very important deadlines are coming. There is the European Cup next weekend and now in the position that we will occupy in the standings we will no longer have too much room for error in the four league matches that will come, “agrees Antoine Dupont. For Toulouse, time is running out.
